Okanagan Screen Arts film a coming of age surfer drama

Breath is being played at the Vernon Towne Cinema Nov. 12 by the Okanagan Screen Arts Society.

This movie is based on Tim Winton’s award-winning and international bestselling novel set in mid-70s in coastal Australia that follows two teenage boys growing up in a remote corner of the Western Australian coast who are eager for some excitement to spice up their ordinary lives.

The two boys form an unlikely friendship with a mysterious older surfer and adventurer, Sando, (Simon Baker) who encourages them to extend themselves and to take risks that end up having a lasting and profound impact on their lives.

This film marks Baker’s filmmaker/directorial debut, with newcomers Samson Coulter and Ben Spence as the teenagers Pikelet and Loonie in their breakthrough performances, along with stars Elizabeth Debicki and Richard Roxburgh.

Breath is a refreshingly original and wistful coming-of-age drama blending surfing, boyhood and surrender with a young man’s first romantic experience with a married older woman creating a film that makes these special moments soar. Breath is entirely about the journey, the solitude and the fear of an individual against the elements with undercurrents of male machismo reminiscent of Stand by Me sentimentality.

Baker successfully captures the hypnotic magnetism of the sea and the young and the experienced adventurous souls who are inexplicably drawn toward its dangers.

Show times are 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. A cash wine bar is on site. Enjoy a pre-show intro by resident filmmaker Matt McDowell and live music in the lobby before the early show courtesy of Les Copeland. Advance tickets are available at the Towne Cinema box office and Expressions of Time.